A cutting-edge goal in nanoscience is to
develop reliable tools to generate, size-select, and soft-land
nanocluster
particles on a substrate.The
endgame is
to be able to obtain well-controlled films, arrays, or networks of
pure or compound nanoparticles with size
and composition
known precisely to within an atom.Such
samples will be of great utility for research and applications in nanoelectronics,
optics, catalysis, spectroscopy, solar
energy, and other uses.

Nanoparticle deposition
apparatus

We are working
with
a setup which includes a magnetron sputtering/condensation
nanoparticle source,
invented in Freiburg (Germany) and manufactured by Mantis
Deposition,
a high-range/high throughput quadrupole mass
spectrometer, and a
substrate deposition chamber.We
are
able to generate, deposit and image metal nanoparticles ranging from 1
to 10 nm
in diameter (~10-104 atoms).